 When Adventure Time can go from an episode like I remember you where we are given this deeply tragic and emotional back story to an Episode like the eyes where a creepy horse just stares at Finn and Jake for 11 minutes I begin to understand the appeal of Adventure Time. It balances so many ideas and blends so many genres It goes from just plain fun to existential dread from detective BMO and BMO noir to downright horror In no one can hear you the amount of love and care that is given to every single episode and every single character Whether it's a character who shows up for one episode or one who grows throughout its ten seasons They are each given the same amount of attention and that level of care shines throughout Adventure Time has so many episodes and layers that can be dissected So in order to focus this video I want to look at how this series tackles the ideas of change growth and acceptance Mainly through the lens of Finn as well as moments of Ice King, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum Adventure Time is an adventure time without its protagonist and that's where I'll begin The maturity of this series is a very slow and gradual one and it happens mainly through the lens of Finn the human Because Finn is so young and so naive It works as the show unravels all the nuances and complexities of life and the land of Just as he does when I think of Finn and his journey It's a slow journey into the character. We see at the end of the series As his journey begins with a very narrow and childlike view of the world This is reflected by the tone that Adventure Time carries It's a kid's show and its protagonist is a kid a hero and his best friend tackling the villains of Having fun doing it But as Finn falls in love and gets his heart broken twice the second as a result of his own flaws It's here that the world begins to develop and the world of who begins to expand as he loses his heroic immunity Finn doesn't have flaws that aren't actually flaws or that can be turned into good things No, Finn is very much a flawed person. He is a great person with a great heart who can do bad things We learn over the course of those first three to four seasons that Finn can be self-centered and manipulative It's illustrated quite well in all the little people where he manipulates people for his own doing or in Storytelling where he bothers and destroys lives to try and heal a sick Jake in Jake suit where he dismisses Jake's pain But Frost and fire is his most egregious where he not only manipulates ice king, but flame princess as well Using personal information about her to get her to do what he wanted This episode had important undertones of sexuality Implying that he was having a wet dream Finn was unable to control his desires and it came at the expense of flame princess This episode was uncomfortable. It was hard to watch, but it was such an important episode for Finn's development At the end of the episode Finn apologizes believing that it will solve everything when it doesn't he replies I said I was sorry a remark that really shows his immaturity. This breakup is a realization that Finn's actions have consequences in The very next episode he is trying to fill that hole left by her with Princess bubblegum Again showing off that immaturity Finn is finally stripped of that heroic immunity and his life begins to take a turn for the worst as He meets his father who is then responsible for Finn losing his arm and abandoning him This show is unafraid to challenge its characters and more importantly to challenge its hero Adventure Time tests Finn's character his heart is resolved But it also demonstrates that even those with the most unshakable morals are still people at the end of the day They still struggle with the same things everyone else does Finn after losing his arm shows another side of himself. He gets angry Vendictive Finn sings about how he wants to rip his father's arm off in the tower He tries to exact his revenge, but it doesn't exactly plug the hole that's left in his heart So he decides to withdraw from all of his emotions instead as a response As sad of a response as it was from Finn I loved it because it was so human in this moment Finn like many others would shut down to shield himself from any further harm and the loss of his arm began The loss of his innocence His overall light his joy has dimmed in breezy. He tries to find it through other people in the most PG way possible Finn hooks up with random princesses to quote-unquote fix himself. I remember thinking how uncharacteristic this was But it wasn't unrealistic It's human nature to want to distract yourself from all the pain that you're going through Especially if it's so unbearable Finn has never felt this way before. He's a 16 year old who's depressed and who's been through a traumatic experience His life used to be rather simple Now he has to navigate all of these different emotions all these complex ones Turning them awful always seemed like the easiest solution Finn was searching for healing in the wrong places and this episode showed him that healing might be a personal journey But others can and will help if you let them It took breezy someone who we never see again to care about him in the way that he cared about others and It took him to remember the love he had for princess bubblegum and for everyone else is what makes Finn Finn Breezy is the episode that I can always think of when I think of this show's maturity to follow its Protagonist a kid so depressed that he decided to abandon all emotion and in order to regain it He looked to meaningless sex and this episode explores why that doesn't work all in 11 minutes Show don't tell is a method employed in all types of storytelling and adventure time shows us what growing up is like Through all the embarrassment the shame and the depression it communicates a realistic portrayal of what it is to grow up the ups and the downs How it is to age to hope and to create new versions of oneself and After everything he went through and his father abandoning him again It changed him Finn began to even empathize with his father Trying to understand why he does what he does in pajama war in that very same episode He learns to appreciate princess bubblegum for her love as a friend as Finn continues to grow he begins to question the world around him He begins to question why things are the way that they are and astral plane saw Finn question the importance of his own Existence with globs explosive response Finn somewhat understands which leads him to the comet When offered by the comet to go to an existence free of everything he's experienced love hate friendship isolation Etc Finn ends up choosing and accepting his own existence He learns that life is filled with unpredictability Unanswered questions. It's incredibly bleak and nihilistic But also filled with an abundance of life of love that he's experienced and no matter what happens good or bad Life is worth living his life is worth living through the heartbreak and the disappointment and people are worth understanding He even comes to the mature conclusion that Martin is someone who is unwilling to change Who was unwilling to face the bridges that he's burnt and so he runs away from every inconvenience He has no bonds to love to friendship or to any of those things that the comet mentioned Which is why he's able to choose a world free of these things Finn has no choice but to accept Martin the way that he is I Said that the show is unafraid to challenge its own hero and throughout Finn's development the way he approaches conflict And how he deals with it has changed Just as he began to develop an even greater empathy for the world around him It also changed the way he operates as a hero as he was knighted back in breezy He's become a more mature hero veering away from simply mindless violence and moving more towards understanding in peace I Think three buckets and the wild hunt were two episodes that illustrated this perfectly and it conveyed some of the show's interesting look at morality In three buckets we see the efforts that Finn is making to understand fern and his non-violence is a demonstration of that understanding As fern locks him up to steal his identity instead of fighting He looks for a solution trying any way possible to talk fern out of his decision And when he does fight him he tries to restrain him and again talk to him until he accidentally kills fern and The final scene of this episode is heartbreaking In one single moment. You can see how devastating that moment was for fin Finn has come to value life. He spent half a season pondering existence searching for the meaning of it all For his will to live he knew and fully understood that fern was only trying to be who he was supposed to be his whole life And now he took that away from fern and while yes fern did act quite maliciously the show doesn't demonize him for it In that final tussle with fern not only was he fighting for fern's life But fin was trying so hard to not be abandoned again by someone that he grew to appreciate and to love Finn in this episode kills someone that he used to be Another version of himself that didn't change and grow and it's traumatizing Again that look on his face is so heartbreaking that guilt it stays with him It stays with him in the wild hunt. It's an event that he will probably never forget I think a younger fin would have killed off fern without even taking the time to try and understand him and Without feeling for him that scene doesn't happen if fin doesn't grow Finn has been through so much and still emerges out of all of these hardships as an even greater hero than he was at the beginning of his story Simon Petrikov is also someone who gains a great deal of acceptance not because he won't change but because he can't Ice King who began as the silly antagonist if Finn and Jake turned out to be a shell of his old self In Simon and Marcy the flashbacks indicated that it all happened 996 years prior Simon has spent over 900 years alone Losing his mind in solitude until it was Simon no more no Betty no Marceline no friends This explains why he's so drawn to Finn and Jake and their friendship He's incredibly lonely It's because of Betty why he's after the princesses ice King goes through these stages where he's so angry and sad He's so volatile and he doesn't even know why he just can't help it These moments of sadness are so heartbreaking even more so when we consider that Simon is still in there And he's the reason for these sudden shifts In bespoken for after Simon and Betty's failed date while the culparts comedic It's so sad as he's on the ground crying and I remember you he's full-on wailing begging for love He wants to be loved so badly, but after the series unravels what happened to Simon He might be the most noble and heroic character in the entire show He knew that in order to save Marceline He needed to keep the crown Marceline needed him and he was there for her even if it cost him his identity his sanity in His song and I remember you Simon writes. I need to save you, but who's going to save me and Here a thousand years later. No one has until Marceline does Marceline was the first person to be his friend to dedicate the time to truly be a friend even when it hurt her She was probably the first person in over a thousand years to invite him out to play basketball The first person to love ice-king to accept ice-king in his current state Ice-king has a mental illness and Marceline treated him with patience She even began calling him Simon and had Finn and Jake and even Princess Bubblegum open up to him and accept him as well Marceline was frustrated and I remember you she was grieving the Simon She knew an incredibly intelligent brave man who's changed a lot a man who saved her life But she's still able to accept him and to love him Marceline knows that he wants love and she provides him with friends that give that to him His story is so tragic and so moving Which makes it even more apparent when Betty is unable to accept Simon as ice-king Betty is so desperate for Simon back and she can't accept this new version of him no matter how hard she tries The relationship they had the time they spent was much different for her than it was for Marceline with Betty We see the duality of love Specifically how love can corrupt and turn someone selfish how Betty threw her own life for Simon Betty brought gallb to ooh if it meant getting Simon back and in the end sacrificed herself for Simon an Act that was selfless Betty was grieving and this is how she responded even love has its faults But while Betty might not accept ice-king the series does They recognize that these are two separate individuals and closes off their stories with their separate Existences Gunter's wish is to be ice-king someone He's grown to love fondly and who showed him love and Simon has been released from the thousand-year labyrinth that is ice-king This series demonstrates that each of us are flawed in our own ways and we all have things to work on But at the same time it's important that we accept that we will never be perfect and we cannot expect that from our peers Jake for example is an amazing friend and brother to Finn. He's wise and caring But he can be aloof reckless and irresponsible sometimes he used to be a criminal and While he is one of the better Adventure Time fathers He still has considerable faults as a father Princess bubblegum is another character that demonstrates the complexity of Adventure Time's characters Behind that unassuming name and aesthetic she begins off as a pure princess But she actually rules the Candy Kingdom with an iron fist She's a benevolent dictator who will always put her people first no matter what even if that includes doing morally ambiguous things She spies on her people. She's committed genocide and rattle balls She does it all for the goodness of her kingdom and her methods have been proven to ultimately benefit the candy people But again, they are questionable Over time she loses a bit of that ruthlessness that she once carried and she begins to learn of her wrongdoings and does try to change And when she loses her kingdom she grows even more She shows sympathy to ice-king and environments She finally breaks down and explores the fact that she drowns herself in responsibility So much so that she pushes people away Princess bubblegum says that responsibility demands sacrifice and she sacrificed everything her relationships even her emotions to her duty So many people sacrifice their well-being for their responsibility and Adventure Time presents the ramifications of that She's so tired and she's lost out on a lot of good things and good people because of it But it's never too late to change Bonnebel is someone who is learning to open up to others and to ask for help and Environments we see how important that is even after 800 years and we see how important Marceline is to her the only person who'd be able to get the scientists to open up in such a vulnerable way Speaking of Marceline everyone's favorite emotional vampire when it comes down to those that she loves She's incredibly loving and defensive and when considering everything in everyone that she's lost it does make sense Marceline has a hard time believing in people and believing that they will change as someone who's been living for over a thousand years People have failed her time and time again, and they will continue to forever Because of that she shells up or deflects when it comes to her emotions With the growth of Finn came the development of who and all sorts of people it came with all sorts of ideas Adventure Time forced its audience to question the world and morality The creepy ice king who willingly gave up his sanity to ensure Marceline survival the lich evil incarnate Who's been turned into sweet pea finn killing fern from lemon grab all the way down to Martin and Betty all of these characters exist in the gray areas of morality and Adventure Time navigates this gray area constantly For its core five specifically Adventure Time doesn't deben eyes them for making bad decisions It forces them to sit with these decisions and either accept them and accept their nature or to change I think it matches up quite well with Adventure Time's philosophy of change and growth and evolution Something that it preaches something that I think can be encapsulated by Marceline's song and stakes Everything stays I've always read into it that especially for the main cast physically. They've all stayed the same for the most part But as people they've changed so much Marceline's immortality has led her to a narrow view of people and of herself But bubblegum Simon Finn and Jake they've all taught her that change while often inevitable Can be a choice too as she chooses to mature and to grow from these experiences We all have a duty to those around us not only to change and evolve But we have to accept the change that happens to those around us as well We cannot beat prisoners to a certain image that we have of someone or of something We can only accept and move forward with their newest form that they present to us Because people are forever changing and as people change ever so slightly daily and nightly we do too I think Finn is the clearest example of that His change was gradual and one that took ten seasons to become into the hero. He was meant to be It took Marceline a thousand years to mature and to alter her view on the world and people as Jake says It's our natural state as people to grow Growth happens not only for these characters individually, but also in their relationships and Adventure Time appreciates all types of relationships What I really enjoy is that they value romantic relationships familiar ones and platonic ones all with the same respect that they deserve Whether it's Simon and Marceline, Marceline and PB or Jake and BMO this series spends time nurturing these relationships and it shows them evolve Relationships are delicate, but even in the face of conflict. They can still survive a Marceline and Princess bubblegum are the perfect examples of that Sometimes it takes two people to grow on their own to bring them back together And they deserve to be fought for and are important and friendships are as well I Always think about Breezy when Finn is urged by PB in the song to let love be his guide Bonnie's friendship her presence in his life is important And he will always be her hero an idea that comes up in hero heart and hall of egress and more These two as well as Finn and Jake most prominently Represent that platonic love is to be celebrated as well if Finn and Jake support each other through everything And I think they are a perfect emblem for a healthy friendship to people who not only help each other grow But they have a lot of fun doing it to reiterate for the final time Adventure Time to me is a series about acceptance and growth about the human experience and From Finn's perspective, it's learning how to do these things and how to properly love those that he cares about Even though the majority of these characters are not human the show exudes a very unique Humaneness about it. It touches on creation, existence, philosophy, love, loss, even sex The fact that all of these characters are so flawed and have done bad things But still grow and change and can forgive themselves and each other and Are accepting of each other's changes is admirable and it's human When I think of Marceline and Ice King again, I feel that she's presented with this shell of a man Who's volatile and who has some terrible faults, but she consistently shows up for him These are not ideas that you'd expect from a kid's show But if you've been watching Adventure Time from the goofy adventures and to this now fully developed land of ooh It's not much of a surprise anymore. It's expected. I Always come back to the comet when Finn chooses his current existence and his reality I also think it's a reflection of the overwhelming love that he's experienced Despite everything he's been through at that point and for the rest of the series He sees love in action in all of its forms the unconditional love and friendship that Jake shows him The patience given towards Ice King, Bimo and Neptune's love of life He learns that despite our tiny existence Because of all these people that he's learned to love Life has meaning Before sacrificing themselves to save their Martian super society in response to Finn asking What does one do after birth? Glob says that it's not enough to have created something amazing, right and them sacrificing themselves illustrates that Protecting these creations despite the inevitability that things will end and allowing them to flourish are just as important These bonds are our creations. They are worth fighting for and protecting Marceline PB Simon Finn and Jake This core of Adventure Time have had their fair shares of pain of trauma Loneliness abandonment heartbreak. They've all been through so much. Hell some of them have even seen the world burn They've seen apocalypse But despite everything instead of choosing to give up on the world and on each other They choose to believe in one another and continue to love they continue to grow and to change And I think that's why I came to love and appreciate Adventure Time even if I am 12 years late